Inuyasha: The Novel
by MikoMimi
Summary: A dramatic retelling and novelization of the beloved series. Includes a number of additional scenes and dialogue.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: Hello, everyone. And welcome to my new foray into writing. This fic is intended to be a novelization and dramatic retelling of the story. While the main plot, scenes, and even some dialogue may follow the original quite closely. I do intend to add plenty of new scenes and spice up some of the originals. I recently finished the entire Inuyasha anime after XX years (finally, I know I'm so late to the game and this fandom seems to have died). I watched it on Netflix in Japan (which only provides Japanese voices with Japanese subtitles), and I was pleased to realize I could understand most of it with little trouble (with the exception of Inuyasha who seems to avoid grammar like the plague). I thought I would challenge myself by reading the manga as well, which is what prompted this idea. If I'm going to go through the trouble of reading it all, I may as well be able to flesh out the scenes as I please. Therefore, sit back and enjoy this lengthy ode to my youth.

Disclaimer: This applies to this and all future chapters of this story. I do not own Inuyasha.

Inuyasha: The Novel

Prologue

"Hehehe… I'm taking the Shikon no Tama. Too bad for you guys."

Scattered shouts of the both angry and fearful villagers filled his ears. Their arrows and spears aimed at but missed him entirely. He was too fast for these puny humans.

" _With this,_ " he thought bitterly, " _I'll be able to become a full demo-_ "

"Inuyasha!"

A familiar shout made him hesitate, and for a moment he froze not sure if he should continue running or address the source of his current muddled feelings. The moment was too long. A sudden _whoosh_ of air headed towards him, and he found himself falling backwards, pierced in the heart by a faintly glowing arrow. He tried to move forward, but found himself stuck to the large, holy tree on the outskirts of the village.

"Kikyo…"

He wanted to be angrier. He wanted to pry himself off the tree and hurt her the same way she hurt him. Had he not promised to become a human for her? Had he not fought at her side these last few months against the demons that came for the Shikon no Tama?

Staring at the miko standing before him, he found his eyes becoming heavier and his mind becoming foggier.

 _Kikyo, how could you?_

* * *

Kikyo watched with both sadness and satisfaction as the half-demon she had become friendly with these last few months slowly slipped into the binding curse she had placed upon him. He would not be able to terrorize this world again unless she removed the arrow. And looking down at her blood-soaked shoulder, she did not think she would be of this world much longer.

Blood loss caused her vision to swim, and she stumbled slightly as she reached down to pick up her sacred duty: The Jewel of Four Souls. Unable to find the energy to stand again, she settled for kneeling before the tree, staring at the blood-covered jewel in her hand.

"For the sake of this jewel…"

Her thoughts were interrupted by the thudding of the villagers as they ran to see what had become of the half-demon that had hung around their village for far too long in their opinion. Her younger sibling and protégé, Kaede, knelt before her, tears pooling in her one remaining eye.

"Sister… let's go back to have this looked at…"

She could hear the murmuring of the viallagers around her.

"That is a terrible wound."

"I knew that half-demon would be trouble."

"Who will protect the village now?"

Kikyo shook he head slightly to try and clear her mind. Spots were forming before her eyes. She looked down at her little sister, touching her small shoulder gently.

"I can't be saved now. It is too late. So, listen carefully, Kaede. I'm sorry to ask this of you…"

Kikyo extended her hand, offering the jewel that had caused so much trouble and taken away her hopes at a normal life.

"This… burn it with my body. I will not allow it to fall into evil hands. I shall take it with me to the world beyond…"

A sudden shake wracked her body, causing her to fall forward onto the ground. As her breath left her, she wondered where it had all gone wrong.

 _Inuyasha, how could you?_

* * *

Chapter 1

"Shikon no Tama?"

"Yes," the old man sighed, his patience waning. "With this, the home is protected from danger and business ventures will be prosperous."

"We're selling this… glass ball?"

"Kagome, you must listen…"

The old man, the caretaker of the Higurashi shrine for many years, stared at his granddaughter with narrowed eyes. She would be the heir of this shrine and the job it entailed when he passed, so she needed to understand the history of this place. Unfortunately, she did not seem to take much interest in his words, dismissing most of his stories as myths or completely made up tales.

"The history of the Shikon no Tama begins wi-"

"More importantly," the girl identified as Kagome interrupted, holding the trinket for her cat to play with, "do you remember what day it is tomorrow?" She crawled up next to her grandfather, innocently staring up at him with wide eyes.

"Hmph. As if I would forget my cute granddaughter's birthday." He reached into a cupboard and procured a nicely wrapped gift.

"A present!?"

"It's a day early, but Happy Birthday, Kagome."

Kagome ripped into the present with gusto, tearing off the paper and lifting the lid in record time. When she reached inside, however, her enthusiasm quickly shifted to annoyance.

"It's a mummified kappa hand," her grandfather explained with pride. "It's history starts whe-"

"Here, Buyo," Kagome said, offering the item to her cat.

Grandfather Higurashi balked. "That's a waste…"

 _I live in a very old shrine with my mother, little brother, and grandfather. There is A LOT of history attached to this shrine and the items here. There is a huge tree called the Goshinboku that is well over 500 years old and some old well that has its own story, but no matter how often Grandpa tells me, I just can't seem to remember. Not that it matters anyway. What does the past matter now?_

* * *

"I'm leaving!"

Kagome slipped on her loafers and dashed out the door, intending to get to school early for once in her life. It was the start of her last year of junior high school, and soon she would be taking the exams that decided her whole future.

Rushing toward the steps that led out of the shrine and down to the street below, she saw her brother standing just inside the wellhouse situated in front of the main shrine building. It was usually off limits.

"Huh? Souta? What are you doing in there?"

"Sister…"

"You know you're not supposed to play around in here, yeah?"

"But Buyo somehow got the door open and…"

Kagome and her brother peered into the darkness of the wellhouse, trying to make out the shape of the family cat.

"Buyo!" Souta called, inching a little farther into the unused building. The presence of his sister made him feel a little braver. "I think he's down there," he said, motioning to the well itself. It stood unobtrusively at the center of the building, a small herb and charm upon it to act as a sealing spell.

Kagome, for her part, was a little annoyed. She had wanted to get to school early, after all. Sighing, she knelt down beside her little brother. "Why don't you got get him?" she asked. "You aren't scared, are you? Aren't you a boy?"

"But it _feels_ funny."

Kagome rolled her eyes as Souta jumped at a sound and cowered behind her.

"Did you hear that sound!? Something is down there!"

"…like the cat?"

Finding her brother's belief in the supernatural rather amusing, Kagome set her school bag down and sauntered down the steps in apparent confidence, although she would be lying if she said the wellhouse didn't give her the creeps too. Every time she passed it she felt a tingling sensation at the base of her neck but chalked it up to the fact that she spent almost no time in there. They weren't allowed.

Kagome stepped to the side of the well and peered around the back, looking for the elusive cat. Suddenly, something brushed against her leg.

"Ahhhhh- oh."

Souta screamed too in sympathy. Kagome looked up and gave him an unamused glare.

"Sorry," he said, trying to regain some composure and pride, "your scream scared me."

Kagome reached down and picked up the thing that had scared them both.

"Buyo, you naughty cat. What were you doing in her-"

"Sister!"

Her brother's shout came a moment too late. A large crack sounded behind her, and, peering over her shoulder, she could see a number of thin arms reaching out towards her. Shocked, she relaxed her grip, allowing the cat to leap from her arms and run to safety. The foreign appendages wrapped around her waist, arms, and neck, dragging her into the well.

"Sister!"

Kagome could hear the shout of her brother following her as she descended deeper and deeper into the depths of the well. As the darkness grew around her, her brother's voice faded, replaced be the deep chuckles of whatever the heck had attacked her.

"What the- What's going on?" Kagome asked, mostly to herself. She could still feel that they were falling, even though her logical mind told her there was no way the well could be so deep.

"I'm so happy. I can feel my strength returning, my body healing."

Kagome looked at the thing – Was it a woman? It certainly looked like a woman, minus the extra arms. – as the missing parts of its body began to flesh out.

Suddenly it was looking right at her, licking its lips.

"You have it, don't you?"

Weirded out beyond all belief, Kagome pushed away, trying to escape the grip that held her in place. "Let go of me! You're giving me the creeps!" Pushing against the creature with all the strength she could muster, Kagome felt something from deep within her well up and spill out through her extended palm. A bright light enveloped her, blinding her momentarily. When it subsided, a disembodied arm remained attached to her sleeve, but the rest of the thing began to fade out of sight. The voice, however, was clear as day.

"I won't let you or the Shikon no Tama get away. I've waited too long…"

Kagome jolted to attention as she landed on her hands and knees at the bottom of the well.

 _Was that a dream?_

The arm that lay twitching on the floor beside her made her grimace and scoot back.

 _Maybe not…_

Looking up, Kagome frowned. How the heck was she going to get out of here?

"Souta, you're still there, right? Go get grandpa!" _And a ladder…_

No reply forthcoming, Kagome gripped a dangling vine and attempted to haul herself up.

 _Probably got scared and ran away._

Kagome gripped the edge of the well and pulled herself over with an unladylike grunt. Annoyed about falling into the well and probably being late for school now, it took the girl a few moments to register that she was standing in the middle of a grassy field.

"Huh?"

Looking around, all Kagome could see were trees, overgrown vines, and the occasional flower.

 _The shrine is gone?_

"Grandpa! Mama!" Kagome shouted, beginning to walk toward what she thought was the house. Suddenly, she caught sight of the large tree before her.

 _The Goshinboku! The shrine must be close!_

Picking her way as quickly as she could through the lush foliage, Kagome was practically at the foot of the tree when she noticed something was strange about it. Namely, that someone was there. A strange, otherworldly breeze blew around her, gently teasing the hair around her shoulders and that of the being before her.

 _A boy…?_

"Um… excuse me?" Kagome said, climbing over some roots to get a closer look. He was covered in them too, she noticed. "What are you doin-?"

Upon closer inspection, the boy did not appear to be awake or aware of her. Her eyes rose from the peaceful expression on his sleeping face to the two triangular ears that sat upon his head.

 _Those aren't human. But they look so soft…_

Kagome willed herself to get a little closer and, hesitantly, reached out to stroke the fuzzy, animal-like ears.

" _This really isn't the time for this_ ," she told herself, but found it difficult to release the appendages in her grasp. The decision was made for her though, when a flurry of arrows embedded themselves around her.

"Who goes there?"

"Are you a foreigner?"

"It is forbidden to enter this area!"

Kagome froze and looked behind her, suddenly aware of shadows moving in between the trees.

 _What's going on?_

* * *

"In Inuyasha's forest…?" repeated an old voice with concern.

"Yes, a young girl in strange clothing."

The old woman, the village priestess, picked up the bow and quiver resting near the entrance to the hut.

"Take me to her."

* * *

"Hey! You didn't have to tie me up!"

Kagome struggled futilely against the ropes that bound her hands and feet, attempting to free herself while not exposing anything at the same time.

Looking around her, she could hear the murmured conversation of the villagers. Something about spies, kitsune, and war. It was difficult to understand what they were saying, not that she was paying much attention.

 _Everyone is in kimono. Some of the men even have top knots! Where are the buildings? Is this a joke?_

Stilling a moment as she saw the villagers turning to look behind them, Kagome got a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Why did she suddenly get the feeling she was in a Warring States Period film?

The crowd parted, revealing an old woman in the garb of a miko.

"Kaede-sama has arrived," someone announced.

The old woman walked up to her and looked her up and down slowly, eyes narrowing around the area of her skirt. Kagome shifted uncomfortably under the scrutiny.

"Who are you? Why were you in Inuyasha's forest?"

 _Jeez, another weirdo asking strange questions…_

Kagome was about to reply that everyone had had their fun and they could put the costumes away, but upon lifting her eyes to the old miko's, the elder became startled and drew closer.

"Show me your face, girl."

Kagome wanted to shrink away, but it was no good. The ropes that bound her would not let her move far or quickly. She remained still under the old woman's gaze.

"Try to look a little more aware."

 _Wha-! What the heck is that supposed to mean?_

Seeming to find whatever she was looking for, the old woman sat back on her haunches and regarded the young girl before her. Her next words seemed to hold both awe and sadness, though Kagome could not for the life of her fathom why.

"She has the look of Kikyo about her."

"Huh?"

Some of the older villagers began to talk amongst themselves, clearly disturbed by this revelation. The younger ones, however, still seemed wary of the newcomer.

"Release her," the miko ordered. "She will stay with me this night."

A couple older men did as the old priestess asked, cutting loose the ropes that tied Kagome's hands and more or less gently setting her on her feet.

Dusting off her skirt and attempting to reclaim some of her wounded pride, Kagome _hmphed_ and followed behind the retreating back of the miko. Whatever was going on, this woman seemed to have it under control.

Kagome looked down at her wrist and then up at the sun in the sky. She had forgotten her watch this morning, but judging by how high the sun was in the sky, it must have been past noon. How was she going to explain this to her teachers? To her mother?

Kagome frowned, thinking back on everything that had happened so far. Maybe she hit her head when she fell in the old well. Was this a coma dream? How did people wake themselves up? Her mind raced even as she tried to keep up with the priestess. Perhaps she only had to return to where it started – to the well. Kagome made up her mind to ask for directions back as soon as she could.

However, as soon as she came to this conclusion, she found herself standing outside a simple hut.

Pushing the curtain aside, Kagome entered what she assumed to be the priestess' abode.

"Pardon my intrusion…" she said softly, not forgetting her manners.

"Please, rest here," the miko said, motioning to a futon in the corner. It had just been set out along with a cup of water.

Kagome took off her shoes and stepped up onto the raised floor. She wanted to protest that she didn't need to rest. She just needed to get back to the well. But her body betrayed her, forcing her lay down and slip under the cool, clean blanket.

"Just a short rest…" she murmured, her over-worked brain succumbing to sleep in a matter of moments.

"I'll be back soon with something to eat," the priestess said, casting a critical eye over the sleeping form of her unexpected guest.

 _Kikyo, have you returned?_

* * *

Kagome awoke sometime later, roused by the scent of something delicious. Her sleep numb mind realized that she had not eaten anything during the day, and the rumbling in her stomach agreed. However, as she woke a bit more, her eyes adjusted to the dim lighting of the… hut?

It all came rushing back to her in a wave of memories and emotions. Buyo. The well. The Goshinboku. The strange boy. The villagers. The miko.

"Ah, you're awake."

Kagome snapped out of the string of memories with a jolt, eyes coming to rest on the miko sitting before the fire pit. She seemed to be stirring something in a large cauldron.

Before she could utter a reply, Kagome's stomach let out another loud protest.

The old miko chuckled in response and picked up a bowl, filling it to the brim with stew. She offered this to the girl in a gesture of friendship, which Kagome quickly scooted over to accept.

"My sister was a miko by the name of Kikyo. She protected this village and the surrounding forest. It has been 50 years since she passed on…" the miko, who had now introduced herself as Kaede, tried to explain why she had brought Kagome to her hut, but was finding it slightly difficult to recount this old tale. So much sadness was associated with that day. "I was only a child at the time. But it seems she has come back to us in the form of you, Kagome."

Kagome lifted a vegetable to her mouth in quiet thoughtfulness. This was an interesting story, not that she believed a word of it. Looking at the window, she could see a few stars dotting the near black sky. This was not the sky of her native Tokyo. Suddenly, she felt that unsettling feeling in her stomach again. Gripping the bowl a little harder than necessary, Kagome tried to force down the growing panic. Surely this whole situation would be cleared up when she got some directions.

"So, this isn't Tokyo, is it?" Kagome asked, trying to keep her cool. It wouldn't be wise to show just how agitated she was.

"Tokyo? Is that the province you come from? I'm afraid I've never heard of it."

The old miko glanced pointedly at Kagome's apparel, her thoughts clearly visible on her weather-beaten face.

 _It must be VERY far away._

Placing her now empty bowl and chopsticks on the floor beside her, Kagome pulled the edges of skirt down a little further. "I'd really like to be getting back there about now…"

 _But how? I don't even know how I got here?_

A crash and the frantic neighing of a horse startled the two women to their feet.

More collected than the younger woman, Kaede made her way to the entrance first, pushing the screen aside slightly to peer into the darkness. Kagome stood right behind her, looking over her shoulder but seeing nothing out of the ordinary until – _Crash!_

The horse that belonged to the cry suddenly appeared from out of no where in front of the hut, flung there by an unknown but powerful force.

Kagome screamed and stumbled back, becoming even more shocked when Kaede grabbed a bow and rushed outside. Against her better judgement, Kagome followed.

It was mayhem.

A destroyed hut and the bodies of a few unlucky chicken littered the ground outside the miko's hut. A few limping villagers made their way away from the chaos, while a few braver souls took up spears and garden tools. From the rubble of the collapsed building, a large mass rose drawing cries of fear from those unlucky enough to see it.

"Demon!"

 _Demon...?_

Kagome looked up and instantly recognized the creature that had pulled her into the well. Seeming to sense her presence as well, the creature turned and locked eyes with the young girl.

"You…"

Kagome froze.

"The Shikon no Tama will be mine!"

The old miko appeared beside her, breathing heavily. "The Shikon no Tama, do you have it?"

Kagome shook her head. "I don't know. I don't _think_ so."

A frantic villager came up, waving his hands to get the priestess' attention. "Neither spears nor arrows are working. What should we do."

Kagome's mind worked quickly. Clearly this demon was after her. If she waited around here, these poor innocent people could be hurt or killed. She turned purposely to Kaede, but the miko was still in conversation with the villager.

"We must get it to the old well then," the miko replied, clearly worried.

 _The well!_

"Where is the well?" Kagome asked, surprising the miko with her fervor.

"In Inuyasha's forest… to the east," she said indicating the direction vaguely with her hand.

"Oh! Where that bright light is coming from? Got it!"

Kagome bolted down the slight incline, intending to run along the path through the middle of the rice fields and straight into the forest toward the brightly glowing light.

" _What did she just say?_ " Kaede asked herself, shocked and unsure whether she had heard correctly or not. She trained her eyes on what she herself perceived as a faint glow. Normal people could not see the demonic presence that hung like a curtain over the forest.

 _But she just said it was a bright light!_

* * *

In the forest, at the base of the God Tree, an awakening was taking place.

Inuyasha's stiff muscles twitched as his blood began to quicken. A familiar scent had woken him from his slumber.

"That scent. I know it well… I can smell the woman who killed me. She's coming closer…"

He cracked his knuckles, glowering into the darkness around him.

* * *

Kagome ran as fast as she could through the darkness, eyes trying to use the dim light of the moon to find a way through the trees. She cursed under her breath as a twig caught on her sleeve, ripping the fabric.

As she came to a bit of a hill, Kagome began to pant. She forced her tired legs to push forward, glancing behind her into the eerie silence of the forest.

"Someone is going to save me, right?"

Without warning, a tree groaned, cracked, and crashed to the ground behind her, revealing the presence of the demon who had apparently kept up with all her running all along.

"Give me the Shikon no Tama," the deep, almost sultry voice demanded.

Kagome tripped over an exposed root and tumbled into a clearing. The apparent source of the light must have been near as things were slightly brighter here. She groaned as she got to her knees, sure that there would now be scrapes and bruises.

 _The Shikon no Tama? But I don't have anything like tha-_

Suddenly, a _whoosh_ of air came from behind, and Kagome ducked out of instinct. The creature that had been chasing her flew overhead.

"What are you doing playing around with that wimpy centipede?"

Kagome's thoughts abruptly came to a halt as she realized where she was. She was back at the Goshinboku, where that strange sleeping boy was pinned to the tree. Only this time he did not seem to be sleeping. Gold met grey as their eyes connected, neither able to look away.

"Huh?" she replied intelligently.

 _He talked?_

"Take care of it with one arrow, Kikyo. Just like you killed me." As he spoke, his voice became lower and more rage-filled. He glared at her with a deep, unsettling anger that Kagome did not understand.

She stood up and marched up to the boy, confused, sore, and more than a little peeved.

"Kikyo? What are you talking about? My name is-"

"It's coming," the strange boy stated matter of factly.

"Wha-"

From above, the demon dove down, knocking Kagome off balance. She fell and rolled down the roots of the tree to the ground below. The demon was about to strike again, when some well-timed spears dug into its back, distracting it.

Kagome let out a sign of relief. She was saved.

"Wow, Kikyo," the boy continued from his perch, "I'm disappointed. Have you become so weak that you need the villagers to save you?"

"Hey, mister!" Kagome, now fully roused and thoroughly angry, climbed back over the roots to look the rude boy in the eyes. "You're mistaking me for someone else. I'm not whoever this Kikyo person is, ok?"

The boy rolled his eyes, clearly not amused. "Stop playing around. This nose wouldn't mistake your scent for any other woman's-"

He stopped his tirade suddenly. Even though his eyes were open, he seemed to be looking right through her as he tested the air with his nose. Kagome noticed that it quivered slightly as he sniffed. Shock slowly settled onto his previously angry features.

"You're not… Kikyo…"

"You get it now, right?" She asked, bristling slightly. "My name is Kagome. Ka-go-me," she said, enunciating each syllable clearly, daring him to make the mistake of calling her a different name again.

The boy seemed to become more thoughtful, studying her. "I guess you're right," he said slowly, taking in the young girl before him. On first glance she looked like Kikyo; she had the strange light eyes and impossibly black hair as the woman he once knew, but she was clearly shorter and younger. Much younger, judging by her wide, innocent eyes. He scoffed and looked off to the side, continuing. "Kikyo was more intelligent looking… and prettier."

"Why you…"

She was about to give this rude jerk a piece of her mind when a pair of unearthly arms grabbed her from behind. Without thinking, Kagome grabbed the first thing she could to keep herself from being dragged away by the demon: two fistfuls of the strange boy's flowing white hair.

"Whhaaaaaa- let go of me!" Kagome screamed, holding onto the boy for dear life.

"Ow ow ow! You let go of me!" He shouted in pain.

The shouts of the pair drew the gaze of the older miko who had just arrived on the scene.

" _Inuyasha! He's awake?_ " The old woman trembled slightly, not understanding how this was possible. " _That seal should have held forever… How…?_ "

The grip on her sides was impossibly tight. Kagome groaned under the pressure, praying that she would wake up from this bad dream. She looked over her shoulder at the vaguely female form of the centipede demon. It was looking at her hungrily, chuckling softly to itself. Kagome shut her eyes tightly and willed it all to go away.

"I know the jewel is on you somewhere but looking is such a waste of time. I'll swallow you whole…"

The boy's ears perked up. " _The jewel?_ "

As the demon's teeth inched closer towards her, some of Kagome's survival instincts kicked in. She needed to get away from here.

"Stop it!" she screamed, attempting to smack the demon square in the face. Surprisingly, however, instead of her palm connected with the demon's cheek, a pink glow erupted from her fingertips and that strange power she felt before flowed through her.

 _Just like at the well…_

The demon screamed in agony and let go of Kagome, dropping her to the hard ground below. Kagome took this opportunity to study her hand. Where had that light come from? And where did it go? Before she had any answers to these questions, however, the demon was back for more.

"Gotcha!"

Kagome's eyes glazed over slightly as searing pain tore through her side. Not having a secure hold on the thin flesh, it ripped through the demon's teeth, causing Kagome to plummet once more. As she fell, she got a glimpse of the small pink jewel that had been hidden above her hip.

"Just as I thought," the demon howled with pleasure.

The villagers looked aghast. Kagome could hear their shocked gasps from where she lay, the pink jewel shining on the patch of grass before her.

 _That came from inside of me?_

Kagome reached out, finding herself drawn to the faintly glowing orb.

"Give it to me!" the boy shouted suddenly.

Distracted, both by his voice and the pain in her side, Kagome allowed her eyes to travel up to where he was still held firm against the sacred tree.

"What?"

She didn't hear his repeated request because an even louder cry sounded behind her.

"Don't you dare! It's mine!"

The centipede wrapped its body around Kagome and dragged her away from the jewel towards the Goshinboku. She would crush this meddling girl and the impertinent boy against the unforgiving bark.

"I've heard of you, half-demon," the centipede demon chuckled. "Inuyasha-something, right? Came after the Shikon no Tama and failed so many years ago."

The boy known as Inuyasha glared pointedly at the demon in front of him, ignoring the gasp of the girl currently being crushed to his chest.

" _Half-demon? What is she talking about?_ " Kagome wondered.

"Don't underestimate me, Mistress Centipede. Someone like you is nothing compared to me."

Kagome looked up at her fellow captive, trying to piece everything together.

"Wait, so, you talked big before, but… are you actually strong?"

Inuyasha looked down at the girl, not really in a position to reply. The centipede demon, however, found this all very amusing and gave away the answer for him.

"You can't move, can you? All your power has been sealed."

Unwilling to wait any longer to retrieve her prize, Mistress Centipede bent down and extended her tongue, drawing the jewel into her mouth and swallowing.

"Crap!" Inuyasha cursed his luck. The jewel was so close. In the hands of such a pitiful demon as Mistress Centipede and here he was powerless to do anything about it. Unless… He looked down at the girl, but her eyes were on the demon.

 _The body is reforming!_

Kagome shuddered as a wave of dark energy crashed over her. When she could bear to look up again, she could see that the mildly scary looking centipede demon from before had now been replaced with a truly gruesome and terrifying creature. The gasps of shock and horror from the direction of the villagers echoed this opinion.

"How wonderful," the new being panted. "I can feel my full power returning."

The squeezing intensified, and Kagome found it increasingly difficult to breathe.

"Oi."

A strangely calm voice pulled her from her from her thoughts of impending death.

"This arrow," he said, nodding his head toward his chest, "think you can pull it out?"

Kagome worked her right hand free and reached up.

"No, Kagome!" Kaede's voice called from across the clearing. "That arrow is what is holding Inuyasha to that tree. He mustn't be freed!"

"Are you stupid, ya old hag? Do you have a death wish? Once that thing absorbs the Shikon no Tama there's nothing we can do about it."

He looked down at the girl again. Her hand was resting on his chest, unsure who to listen to.

"Well, girl, do you want to die today?"

He half expected her to completely freeze up. A clearly stupid girl like her would no doubt not have enough presence of mind to do anything, let alone listen to him. Inuyasha was shocked, then, when her determined eyes fixed on the arrow.

 _I don't understand what's happening here, but I have no intention of dying. This better work…_

Kagome gripped the arrow and pulled with all her strength. It proved unnecessary, however. The arrow dissolved into a million glittering sparkles as soon as she touched it.

Kaede's voice came to her on the suddenly strong breeze. "It vanished…?"

A deep, humorless laugh sounded from above her, but Kagome had no time to question it. As quickly as it started, the laugh stopped, and an explosion of flesh and bones caused the body to slacken its hold on the young girl. She slipped down to the base of the tree as Inuyasha jumped up and toward Mistress Centipede.

"You brat…" the centipede growled, now on the defensive.

"I'm coming for ya, hag. Sankou Tessou!"

Inuyasha swiped at the demon, a powerful surge of energy coming from his claws in a way that seemed impossible to Kagome's rational mind. She felt the strange power slice through the centipede demon, leaving it in twitching shreds on the forest floor.

"In one swipe."

"I've heard tales of how powerful he was, but…"

Kagome stared at the back of the guy who had just saved her – and everyone else's – life.

 _Wow… he really is strong._

She was startled out of her thoughts by the sudden appearance of Kaede at her side.

"Kagome, the monster will continue to regenerate with the power of the Shikon no Tama if we do not remove it." She indicated the flesh that slowly moved over the uneven ground, and Kagome grimaced. "Do you see the glow of the jewel?"

Kagome, desperately wishing this was a joke, looked over the piles of sliced flesh in their various piles. Turning around slightly, she saw a faint pink glow coming from one particularly large chunk. "It's over here…" she mumbled, mostly to herself. The eyes of the old woman and the strange boy followed her, but neither moved. Kagome reached into the gooey flesh and tried not to throw up. Once separated from the jewel, however, the body began to crumble away into nothingness.

Kagome looked down at the jewel in her hand. It was a soft pink color that seemed to glow and sparkle in the faint moonlight. It felt warm in her hand. She then looked down the bloodstained tatters of her uniform shirt. How had it gotten inside her, especially because…

"It makes youkai stronger," she said softly. " _But I have never felt such power within me before._ " She remembered the energy that came from the jewel after the centipede ate it. If it had been within her, surely she would have noticed it, right?

The boy interrupted her thoughts. "Now you get it. For humans, this means nothing. Unless you wanna become acquainted with my claws, you better hand it over."

Kagome looked up into his strange golden eyes. First he saved her, and now he threatened her?

"You musn't give it to him, Kagome. Not ever. It is an unholy jewel. It corrupts everything."

Kaede's voice was clear in her ears, but Kagome made no effort to move. She was frozen by the pure hatred that filled the gaze of the one called Inuyasha.

He took a step toward her, claws extended.

"I won't go easy on you. Especially because you smell that way."

He lunged, and Kagome moved with a speed she didn't know she possessed. Getting out of striking range, she looked back as the boy took aim again.

"I'll cut you in half. You mean nothing to me!"

"Hey! You're really trying to kill me, aren't you?"

If Inuyasha hadn't been so angry, he would have been taken aback by her stupidity. Instead, he readied his claws for another attack.

Behind them, the villagers gathered nervously behind their priestess.

"Kaede-sama, it really wasn't a good idea to unseal Inuyasha. Even to take care of Mistress Centipede…"

The feeling was very much one of "out of the frying pan, into the fire."

Kaede sighed and reached into her sleeve, pulling out a strand of beads and teeth. Saying a short incantation under her breath, she tossed the necklace over Inuyasha's neck as he lunged past her in an attempt to get to Kagome.

Surprised by this sudden turn of events, the half-demon on the loose halted his attacks, looking down at the jewelry.

"Kagome," called the elderly miko, "say something to subdue him!"

"What!?"

"Anything is fine!"

"You say that, but I can't think of anything while I'm trying to avoid-"

"Stop playing around, girl!"

Inuyasha lunged again, and Kagome's mouth formed an "oh" in her shock. With only moments to spare, she said the first word that came to mind.

"Osuwari!"

Suddenly, the necklace glowed and Inuyasha was pulled face first into the cruel, cold earth below.

Everyone gasped in shock.

Shaking his head and peeling himself off the ground, the irritated hanyou picked up and studied the beads.

"What the hell…" Momentarily distracted as he was, Inuyasha failed to notice the approach of the old priestess.

"It's futile to resist, Inuyasha. That rosary will subdue you the moment the word is spoken by Kagome."

Inuyasha cracked his claws and made a move toward the old woman. "Why you, old biddy…"

"Kagome?"

"Osuwari."

 _Crash!_

"Well now, everyone, let's return to the village," Kaede said, no longer concerned about the problems behind her. Ushering everyone back the way they came, she failed to notice – or purposely ignored – the string of curses let out behind her.

Morning had dawned, shedding light on a new day.

* * *

Kagome winced as the old priestess applied some salve and bandages to her wound. The woman was being gentle, no doubt, but the abused flesh practically burned under her ministrations.

"The demonic energy," Kaede explained, dipping the next bandage into the salve and applying it with practiced ease. "Your body is purifying the remaining traces."

Kagome nodded dumbly, trying to ignore the pain. She looked across the low-burning fire to where Inuyasha was lounging. He had turned away to avoid looking at her, whether it was because he respected her modesty or was disgusted by her she couldn't tell.

As for Inuyasha, he was trying his damnedest to figure out how he got here.

The noise from the rebuilding of the village taking place outside bothered his sensitive ears, and the murmured conversation of the villagers peeking in through the entrance screen and windows wasn't any better.

He could hear them, even though they were attempting to be quiet. The fear of having a demon – a half-demon – among them was clear in both their words and apprehensive looks. Scattered comments of "disgusting," "unnatural," and "a crime against nature" made him snort in anger.

 _Puny humans. Afraid of what they don't know._

He tried to stay angry, tried to glare at the figures just visible through the screen, but he couldn't help the dread that crept up his spine. Pushing the uncomfortable feeling down, he closed his eyes and focused his attention on the conversation behind him.

"With the Jewel of Four Souls reappearance, I fear our troubles have just begun," the old miko said with a slight sigh.

"You mean more demons will come?" the younger girl asked worriedly.

"Not just youkai, unfortunately. Anyone with evil in their hearts could use the jewel to make their evil desires a reality."

Inuyasha's ears twitched as he heard Kagome roll the jewel back and forth on the wood floor before picking it up and studying it carefully.

"Why do you want it then? You seem plenty strong without it."

That question was directed at him, but Inuyasha refused to answer it. The old miko, expecting this, spoke up for him much to his annoyance.

"He is but a half-demon, a hanyou," she explained, fixing the gaze of her single eye upon his back.

Fed up, Inuyasha turned around and faced the pair of women, slamming his fist into the floorboards below. A few creaked and cracked, sending some small pieces of wood flying. Kagome jumped in response, shocked by his sudden violence, but the old woman seemed unfazed by his mood.

"You've been goin' on about me since earlier, ya old hag. You think you know me?"

"I guess it's not surprising that you don't recognize me after all these years," she said coolly. She picked up some of the unused herbs and returned them to their respective containers. "I'm the younger sister of Kikyo: Kaede."

"Kaede…" Inuyasha let the name roll off his tongue, slowly picturing the young girl who had once stuck to Kikyo like a shadow.

"It's been 50 years since you were sealed. Of course, I have aged."

Inuyasha snorted in amusement. "If you're this old, Kikyo must be totally ancient. Sucks being human," he said. He tried to brush this off like it was nothing to him, but he actually wasn't sure how he should feel.

"Sister Kikyo is dead. She died the day she sealed you."

Inuyasha froze perceptibly for a moment, then shook his head and lay back down.

"So that's how it happened. Sucks for her, then. Good riddance."

"I wouldn't get comfortable so soon, Inuyasha," Kaede said stirring the pot (both literally and figuratively). "It seems that young Kagome may be the reincarnation of Sister Kikyo. Of course, the resemblance and spiritual abilities already pointed in that direction, but the fact that the Shikon no Tama was inside her body…"

* * *

Sometime later that day, Kagome found herself wandering through the village, thinking back on what had happened to her in the last 24 hours. The priestess' final words hung in the back of mind like a lead weight.

 _You must take up the protection of the Shikon no Tama._

" _She was joking, right? This is all one big misunderstanding…_ "

Kagome stopped as she came upon a group of villagers. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves, but suddenly they all faced her and bowed their heads in prayer.

" _Gah! Are they worshipping me?_ "

Suddenly rather uncomfortable, Kagome tried to make her way to the outskirts of the village, but not before being surrounded by a number of the village people.

* * *

Inuyasha frowned as he stared up into the cloudless sky. His thoughts far, far away.

" _That girl is Kikyo's…_ "

As though her scent had not been warning enough, he heard her loud footsteps as she approached the tree he perched in; she had not even attempted to mask her movement. Was she trying to make herself easy to kill? She stopped below his branch, and he was sure she was waiting for him to come down. Not interested in anything she had to say, Inuyasha continued to look at the sky.

Suddenly, something was flying up through the air towards him. Reaching behind his back, he grabbed the soft fruit and glared down at the girl below.

"That's for you," she said simply, looking up at him with those wide grey eyes.

"What's with the food?" he asked, uncomfortable under her unwavering gaze.

"Offerings from the villagers. Come down from there. We can eat these together."

Without waiting for him to reply, Kagome sat down under the tree and grabbed one of the fruit for herself. She got in a few bites before Inuyasha hopped down beside her. Glancing out of the corner of her eye, she didn't let the amusement that she had succeeded in coaxing him down show on her face. The fruit was mysteriously absent as well. He seemed to pick up that something was up despite her efforts, however.

"Just what are you up to, bitch?"

She frowned at his use of language but shook her head in the negative.

"Nothing in particular. It's just that you… you don't like me, do you?"

"Is it that obvious?" he asked dryly.

"Look, my name is Kagome. Not Kikyo. I don't know what happened between you two, but since I'm not her, let's be friends, ok?"

 _Friends? FRIENDS!? Was she nuts? Since when did humans – or anyone for that matter – want to be a half-demon's friend?_

He stood up, hoping to intimidate her a little.

"Are you stupid? When it comes to the Shikon no Tama, I won't let anyone stand in my way."

"Ah, is that so? But if you get out of hand I just need to say 'osuwari' an-"

The half-demon crashed to the ground in a puddle of curses and threats.

"Oh, gosh! I'm sorry, I really didn't mean it that time…"

Inuyasha glared up at her from his position on the ground. She did look sincerely sorry, but that didn't help soothe his pride.

"Here," she said, offering him another fruit, "They really did give me a lot of food. Since you're the one who saved us, I think at least half of it is yours."

 _She really is dumb._

Inuyasha stared at the girl. Strange clothing aside, she was clearly not from around here. What else explained not only her ignorance of demons but her complete lack of awareness of the world around her. She should be running away from him in fear, not offering him fruit.

He looked her directly in the face and realized that that had been a mistake. She was still holding out the fruit to him, no hint of malice or worry apparent. Sighing and acting against his better judgement, he took the fruit and plopped down beside her again.

Inuyasha saw her smile out of the corner of his eye, but she made no comment, focusing instead on finishing the half-eaten fruit in her hand. He took a bite of his and did the same, not really sure what to make of his new predicament.

* * *

Kagome tossed and turned on the futon provided by Kaede. She was tired, but the hard floor of the hut was too foreign a surface for her to fall asleep on easily. That, and her troubled thoughts did not allow her much peace of mind.

"I've been here two days already… Grandpa, Mama, Souta… they must be worried… I've gotta get home somehow…"

As she drifted into an uneasy sleep, Kagome failed to detect the presence of a creature watching her. The crow-like demon sat perched on the windowsill of the hut, looking down at the girl and the treasure she guarded.

Far more aware that the young woman inside, Inuyasha sat quietly atop a fence post, watching the demon in complete silence. His eyes glowed dangerously in the night, daring the creature to take one step toward the jewel that he had claimed as his. The bird shifted slightly, and Inuyasha let one of the pebbles he had collected fly. It just missed where the crow had been sitting.

Annoyed with this development, the crow flew off. Inuyasha flicked another stone at it half-heartedly. Let it try to come back and take it…

Satisfied that nothing else would bother the jewel tonight, Inuyasha sulked off to the edge of the village. He would find a good tree to sit in and try to get a little rest for the night.

* * *

Kagome woke up multiple times during the night. The last time had been at first dawn, when the rays of the sun turned the sky a beautiful range of pinks and oranges.

Her first intention had been to just go outside and get some fresh air, but once she realized that no one else was about, Kagome realized she had a chance to escape.

Walking through the forest and crawling over fallen trees and roots, Kagome wondered how she made it through here the night before. She shook her head and tried to focus on where she was going. Without the light to guide her, making sure she was going the right direction was a little trickier.

"I just need to get back to that dried up well. Once I get there, I should be able to get home…"

* * *

"Kagome?"

"Kagome-sama?"

"It's no use, Kaede-sama. We can't find her anywhere."

The old miko frowned and looked in the direction of the forest.

"She must have gone off on her own then…"

Inuyasha looked down from the roof where he had been sitting. He had known the girl was gone some time ago, but he hadn't really cared. After all, what business of his was it if she wanted to get herself killed.

"… and it seems she took the jewel with her too…"

 _What?_

Inuyasha glared and then took off with a sudden leap. How dare she try to sneak off with his jewel?

* * *

Gingerly crawling over a particularly large log, Kagome wondered how much farther away the well was.

She was about to continue when a pair of strong hands grabbed her from behind, one twisting her arm, the other muffling her scream.

After what seemed like hours – but in reality couldn't have been more than one – Kagome found herself pushed to the floor of what was probably once a temple. It now housed what seemed to be a group of ex-soldiers or bandits.

Whispers that pointed out her gender made her squirm uncomfortably under the weight of her captors, who were currently pressing her stomach and face into the cold, dirty flooring.

"We have captured her, just as you ordered, okashira."

"What interesting and revealing clothes she is wearing…"

Kagome struggled against their grip but found herself at a disadvantage of strength.

"What is it with you guys…" she grumbled angrily.

"The jewel."

This voice did not come from her captors but from someone deeper in the building. Peering into the dimly lit hall, Kagome could just make out the hulking figure sitting in the center.

"The jewel," he repeated, "give it to me."

Kagome frowned. He sounded dazed. Or drunk. Unable to move as she was, however, she settled for gulping loudly and trying to ignore the fear pooling in her stomach.

* * *

Inuyasha tested the air again then set off in a slightly different direction. If that girl had been heading toward the forest and the sacred tree as he suspected, she had certainly taken the longest path to get there.

" _Stupid girl, just where do you think you were going with my jewel._ "

Picking up another, more troubling scent, however, Inuyasha quickened his pace.


	2. Chapter 2

A/N: Hello, and welcome to Chapter 2. I hope you're ready for a long one, cause this is a whopping 24 pages long on word! I haven't done any editing yet, but I plan to use the rest of my Golden Week holiday to clean up this and chapter 1, as well as work on Letters and Numbers. Happy reading!

* * *

Inuyasha: The Novel

Chapter 2

* * *

Kagome squirmed and struggled as her captors attempted to bring her closer to their leader, doing her best to stay away from the strange swaying ogre of a man. Her hometown of Tokyo was one of the safest cities in the world, and she had – until this point in her life – little cause to be concerned about kidnapping, murder, or any other type of danger to her person. Her very short experience in this strange land, however, was kicking those dormant instincts into high gear.

"Shi…kon…no…Tama…" the leader said, slurring his words. He stood, lumbering over to the captive girl with an unsteady gait.

Desperately trying to get out of arms reach, Kagome leaned back, but the two men holding her prevented any further movement. The leader was upon her in less than a minute.

"Give…it…"

Kagome shut her eyes as a hand came towards her. She then felt herself be lifted by the front of her uniform shirt and then thrown down unceremoniously. She was now free of restraints, but upon looking up, she saw that the leader had somehow pulled the necklace with the jewel from her neck. She touched the spot where it had rested unconsciously, remembering the old miko's words.

" _Not just youkai, unfortunately. Anyone with evil in their hearts could use the jewel to make their evil desires a reality."_

Nodding to herself, Kagome stood up and brushed off her skirt. She hoped that by faking confidence she would be able to ignore the uncomfortable pounding in her chest and maybe catch these bad guys off guard. She stomped up to the leader.

"Hey! Give that back," she yelled, smacking him solidly on the shoulder. The meaty flesh of his arm was hard under her hand, and she took a step back in disgusted surprise.

The leader, seemingly unfazed by her show of bravery, simply pushed her down and stabbed a sword into the floorboards before her. He attempted to prop himself up on the blade, and Kagome could see the thin metal bow under his weight. She scooted back on the floor apprehensively.

Her previous captors chose this moment to show up again, lifting her up from the floor and dragging her struggling body forward toward their boss.

"Restrain…her…" the boss ground out. His underlings obliged, forcing the captive girl in the arms to stand as tall and still as possible.

A few of the other men in the hall shook their heads. To kill a girl, particularly such a pretty one, was certainly a waste.

The boss raised his sword ominously, and Kagome shut her eyes in defeat, wishing this was all a bad dream. How many times had she wished that these last few days?

The whoosh of air and the boss's grunt told her that death was on its way, but the pain never came. Tentatively allowing one eye to peek open, Kagome saw the shocked expression of the guard on her right, who was currently staring in horror at the guard on her left. Turning her own head, Kagome could now see why: The man had a deep, oozing gash on his shoulder and was slowly crumpling to the ground.

At first, Kagome could only stare in shock at this sudden bloodshed, but instincts flared up again, and she realized she only had one captor to deal with, not two. She took a step back as the remaining guard tried to reason with his boss.

"Okashira, why would you attack us, your loyal followers?"

"Oops," the bumbling man replied, clearly out of it. "That…was a mistake."

The boss turned his attention back to the girl, ignoring his underling. "This time," he continued ominously, "the girl's neck."

Kagome tried to swallow, but her throat was completely parched. She took another step back.

"Die!" the man shouted, raising his sword above his head.

The young girl ran sideways, barely avoiding the blade. The man swung again and again, trying to catch his prey and keep his balance at the same time. His swings more often than not found a body, although not the one he was intending to hit. As the girl ran about the room, he followed her, leaving a trail of half-dead, twitching bodies.

The underlings quickly came to the conclusion that their boss had little concern for their well-being in this chase, and wisely began to pick up and leave while he was distracted with the girl. Kagome, noticing some of their abandoned equipment, decided to pick up a spear.

"This has got more reach than your sword," she said, trying to sound confident and threatening.

The disoriented leader walked up to her and swung his sword, completely destroying her "advantage" in reach.

" _I'm… this is really it…"_

Kagome shrunk under his gaze. There was little room for her to run and absolutely nowhere to hide. With the large, swaying man now directly in front of her, Kagome could only pray for a miracle.

 _Crash!_

Kagome could feel the air change around her. The pain of the blow did not come either. Tentatively, Kagome opened one eye and then the other, frightened tears blurring her vision but not enough to prevent her from recognizing the red and white in front of her.

" _Inuyasha…"_

Inuyasha crouched slightly, ready for a fight.

Kagome smiled through her tears. "Inuyasha, you came to save..."

"Where is the jewel?"

"…the jewel!?"

"Yes, the jewel. Why else would I be here!?"

Kagome didn't get a chance to respond. The hulking giant of a man had recovered from his surprise at the entrance of the half-demon and was readying another strike. Inuyasha watched him with careful eyes, but it was his nose that helped him put everything together.

"What an awful smell! It's like a rotting corpse." Inuyasha wrinkled his sensitive nose and tried to cover it with one of the sleeves of his haori. Unfortunately, it did little to block the unpleasant odor.

The giant man did not seem to care about the hanyou's discomfort, gripping his sword and raising it once more.

Inuaysha, however, was ready. "You're in there, aren't you? Stupid corpse-controlling crow!" Inuyasha extended his claws, slicing the front of the apparent corpse's armor. A gaping hole near the heart was readily apparent, and from within a sinister cawing could be heard. Suddenly, a three-eyed crow burst forth from the body, much to the horror of all the humans present.

Kagome felt the blood drain from her face and the bile rise in her throat. She had seen a few horror movies in her time, but nothing in a movie could have prepared her for this.

"So, you ate his heart out and crawled in there sometime last night, did ya?" Inuyasha continued, undisturbed or surprised by this development. His nose didn't lie.

"How cruel…" Kagome said, trying hard not to either run away or pass out.

Inuyasha extended his claws once more. "You're not strong enough to fight for yourself, so you try to control others. How pathetic!" He jumped forward, digging his claws into the hole in the man's chest and forcing the crow demon out the back. The Jewel of Four Souls was clasped tightly in its beak.

"The jewel!" Inuyasha exclaimed, both relieved to see it unused and angry that it was in the metaphorical hands of his enemy. He jumped forward again and swiped at the creature but missed. The crow demon took this opportunity to escape, leaving the irate half-demon and teenage girl behind. "Damn it all! Wait! Ugh…"

Inuyasha scanned the room, thinking quickly about how he was going to get the jewel back before the crow used it. His eyes fell upon a bow and a quiver of arrows. Taking a peek behind him, he saw the strange girl was still standing there, looking at him expectantly. He was momentarily impressed that she was still standing upright as his first impression was that she was rather useless, but he pushed those thoughts away in favor of focusing on their present predicament. He picked up the weapons he had spotted and grabbed the girls wrist, pulling her towards him as he knelt before her.

"Get on," he commanded, refusing to look at her.

"Ah… ok…" Kagome replied hesitantly. She wasn't in much of a state to refuse.

Kagome gripped the shoulders in front of her and lifted her left leg, preparing to hoist herself up. She was surprised, however, when Inuyasha swept his left arm under her thigh and lifted her like she was nothing, holding her in place with the one hand. He leapt out of the hall through the exit he had created upon his entrance.

Kagome squeezed Inuyasha's shoulders and buried her head in his hair, trying not to think about how fast she was moving or how high Inuyasha was jumping. Avoiding those thoughts though lead her to focus on where his hand was resting at the moment and the fact that anyone below them probably had a good idea what color panties she was wearing today. While she normally would have been indignant and probably would have bopped any pervert smack on the nose, she felt that these extenuating circumstances – namely that he could drop her at any moment – gave him a bit more leeway.

Inuyasha, for his part, was doing his very best to ignore everything about the passenger he carried. Unused to human contact as he was, being so near a human – and a female at that – made him very uncomfortable, even if the skin under his hands was not entirely unpleasant. Eyes set firmly ahead and ignoring those clearly unnecessary thoughts, Inuyasha growled as the demon came into view once more.

"I won't let you get away!"

Remembering the bow and arrows still in the grasp of his right hand, Inuyasha passed the set to the girl on his back. She took them but did not release her grip on his clothing, even though he now had a better hold on her with two hands.

Realizing she had no intention of using the damn weapons, Inuyasha glared over his shoulder. "What are you waiting for!? Shoot the damn thing down!"

"Are you crazy!? My experience with a bow and arrow is…"

"As it is now, that crow only feeds on humans. What do you think will happen if it eats the jewel?"

Approaching the demon, Kagome could see the glint in its eyes as it looked back at them. It knew they were close. In one gulp, the crow swallowed the jewel.

"Oh, no!" Kagome said breathlessly, almost like a whisper.

"Damn it all," Inuyasha grumbled. "Well, are you gonna do something or not!?"

Kagome paused for a moment, then tentatively loosened her grip on Inuyasha's shoulders to string a bow.

"I'll try."

"Yosh!"

Inuyasha smirked, trying not to let his pleasure show.

" _Once she shoots the stupid crow down, I can just drop her and take the jewel for myself,"_ Inuyasha thought. His plans to be a full demon would soon be fulfilled.

"Do it in one shot," he continued, "Kikyo was a master archer."

"I told you," said Kagome, irritation distracting her from her nervousness, "I'm Kagome, not Kikyo!" She raised the bow and drew the string back.

 _But right now, Kikyo, I could use your help!_

She released the arrow.

 _Let it hit!_

The arrow seemed to be flying true, and for a brief moment, both Inuyasha and Kagome thought that, by some miracle, Kagome had managed the shot. That moment ended, however, when the arrow quickly lost momentum and fell uselessly to the ground below.

"Huh?" Kagome asked, surprised and slightly embarrassed. "Um… when you said Kikyo was a master archer, were you just lying?"

"No," ground out Inuyasha, adjusting his grip and trying to pick up his pace, "you're just useless!"

"How rude! I told you I've never even held a bow and arrow before!"

Inuyasha chose to ignore the young girl on his back, watching as the demon they were chasing morphed before their eyes. It suddenly changed trajectory, diving towards a small village below. Clearly interested in finding a meal, the rapidly growing crow plucked a small bow from one of the fields and carried him off, much to the shock and horror of his mother.

"Ah! Kokichi!"

"Damn," said Inuyasha. "It's already becoming stronger."

"That… thing…" Kagome said, so low that Inuyasha almost didn't hear it above the wind rushing past them, "it's not going to eat… that child… is it?"

He felt her hands holding onto his shoulders tightly once more, her palms warm and a bit sweaty as the gravity of the situation dawned on her.

"I told you before," Inuyasha said with a bit more bite than he intended, "that thing eats humans. However…" He looked at the fleeing demon and was struck with a thought. "His movement will be more limited if he's carrying a snack. I'll rip it apart in one swipe!"

"Inuyasha, you can't! What about the child!?"

But it was too late. In one more bound Inuyasha leapt up and clawed at the demon. Before he could make contact, however, Kagome screamed, alerting the demon to their presence. The crow avoided Inuyasha's attack but had to let go of the child in the process. Without thinking, Kagome jumped after him, cradling his small body to hers.

"Bitch! Are you trying to get in the way!"

His tirade was cut off by the reappearance of the crow in his line of sight. It was heading straight toward Kagome and the boy.

"Shit!"

Inuyasha launched himself at the demon and swiped once more, this time striking him right down the middle. Kagome landed on a soft patch of upturned farmland, although the hard landing would undoubtedly leave a bruise. She would have rubbed the abused flesh now, but the squirming boy in her arms was desperate to return to his mother.

"You're ok now, kiddo. Don't worry," Kagome said, half to the boy and half to herself. She noticed that one of the demon's claws was still gripping the boy's arm, so she pried it off before releasing him.

"Kokichi!" a woman called, approaching the pair on the ground.

"Mama!"

The boy ran to the embrace of his mother, and Kagome stood on shaky feet, happy that the two were reunited. It was definitely worth the back pain she was currently experiencing.

"Girl! Where's the jewel?"

Kagome snapped her head toward the sound. She was about to tell Inuyasha that if he wanted her help he could use her name, but the words died on her lips. The demon was already reforming.

"Damn it!" Inuyasha cursed and leapt after the demon again, but its speed was increasing at the same rate as its strength. Inuyasha landed near Kagome and growled. "It's tryin' to run and hide until it can absorb the damn jewel completely."

Kagome frowned and looked up at the crows retreating figure. She could see the glow of the jewel clearly even from here.

 _I've got to do something!_

Looking down, Kagome noticed the demon's claw in her hand. It was trying to pull away from her and rejoin the rest of the body. Suddenly, she was struck with a thought. Quickly removing the red neckerchief from her uniform and using it to affix the claw to another arrow. She strung the arrow and took aim.

The villagers looked on in shock, mumbling about the impossibility of a shot from such a distance. Inuyasha turned to see what she was up to and almost laughed.

"Are you serious? Someone as useless with a bow as you…"

"It'll make it!" Kagome shouted, releasing the arrow in one fluid motion.

Inuyasha watched it cut through the air, surprised at how far and fast it traveled. Then he got a good look at the arrow itself. A slight pink glow enveloped it, but he was even more surprised was what it carried.

 _She attached the leg to the arrow!_

Kagome tried to be confident. If the body regenerates with the help of the jewel and the leg is part of the body, surely it would carry the arrow all the way. Her theory was confirmed only moments later, when a shriek and a bright light erupted from the crow demon's body.

"It struck! I did it!"

Kagome's excitement was short-lived. The bright light continued to grow, and a bright pinkish light shone, making all who witnessed it shield their eyes at the brightness. When it dimmed, Inuyasha grabbed Kagome again, yelling something about finding the jewel before the demon regenerated again.

Kagome, lost in thought as she rode on his back, wondered about the light she had just seen. She had a bad feeling things had just gotten a whole lot worse. Her thoughts were interrupted, however, by Inuyasha.

"Oi, girl, do you see the jewel?"

"Huh? Oh… no…"

She was about to look around again, when a cry from above drew the pair's attention.

"Just the head?" Kagome asked.

"Heh," Inuyasha said, dropping the girl off his back. She fell on her bruised backside for a second time that day. "Looks like it's coming to me this time. Die!"

Kagome groaned in discomfort, but her hanyou companion either didn't notice or didn't care.

Inuyasha crushed the head of the transformed crow into the hard earth, the glow of the Shikon no Tama dislodging and landing a little further away like the rest of the creature's brains.

When it settled on the ground, Kagome crawled over to retrieve it.

"Huh?"

What lay before her was not the Jewel of Four Souls but a single piece of glowing crystal.

Inuyasha, sensing her hesitation, came closer to see what she was looking at.

"It seems to be," Kagome continued, "just a shard of the jewel…"

"Are you shitting me?"

* * *

Inuyasha walked ahead of Kagome on the dusty road back to Kaede's village. Without the pressure of having to chase a demon, he adamantly refused to carry the girl or be near her. However, it would be impossible for her to travel through the bush as he would prefer, so he compromised by allowing her to follow him on this relatively untraveled road.

The girl was a total mess, smelling mostly of a mixture of sweat, dirt, and blood. The last of which might have been his fault although he would never admit it; her wound had reopened at some point during the fight with the crow. Even now though she was trying to keep up, usually walking for a short while then running to catch up again.

The worst part, Inuyasha decided, was the incessant talking.

"Ne, Inuyasha, so you're really a half-demon, hm?"

"Do your ears do something or are they just for looks?"

"It must be cool to be able to run so fast and jump so high!"

Inuyasha groaned and contemplated squishing his ears against his head in an attempt to drown out her rambling.

 _Who the hell does she think she is talking to? She should be ignoring me if not attacking me or running away? What the hell is wrong with her?_

Inuyasha stole a glance back at the girl, who was running to catch up with him yet again. She seemed tired but in otherwise good spirits. He stopped suddenly and extended his claws, whipping around to fix her with what he thought was an angry scowl.

"Can't you be quiet!?"

She looked surprised rather than scared, but the questions ceased and Inuyasha went back to walking ahead as quickly as possible, trying to put some distance between them.

Eventually he heard a muttered apology, but other than that, the return trip was made in complete silence.

* * *

"Old woman! Explain what the hell is going on!"

Kaede looked up from her dinner preparations to see an irate half-demon darkening her doorway. He was closely followed by the young girl, who respectively bowed her head and asked pardon for her intrusion before entering the hut.

"I see, so that bright light from before was your doing?" the old priestess surmised, motioning the pair to sit down. Kagome sat by the fire, but Inuyasha opted to sit further away, legs still on the dirt floor of the entrance in case he needed to make a speedy getaway.

Kagome calmly explained what had happened, making the half-demon very uncomfortable when she praised his strength and speed. The old woman made no comment though, sitting quietly until the whole tale was recounted.

"It seems," she said eventually, "that Kagome's sacred arrow not only destroyed the body of the demon but also shattered the jewel."

"What!?" Kagome and Inuyasha yelled in unison.

The miko continued, "I imagine the jewel shards have been scattered all over. It could be in just a few or hundreds of pieces. Even a single piece of the jewel could grant vast strength to any being that possessed it..."

Kagome had the grace to look very embarrassed.

 _I did that!?_

"…so you two will simply have to combine your strength and put it back together again."

"Eh!?" the pair exclaimed again.

Inuyasha recovered first.

"What do you mean combine our strength? She's useless in a fight. And anyway, I'm one of the demons after the jewel, remember?"

Kaede sighed and rubbed her temple, a growing headache forming both in her head and in front of her.

"And how do you propose to collect the shards if you cannot see or sense them, Inuyasha? For now, this is the best option."

While Kagome normally would have been annoyed at Inuyasha's insult, she had been too distracted by Kaede's words to even register them.

 _Put it back together? But that means I'd have to stay here for I don't know how long! I want to go home!_

* * *

A cool spring breeze rustled the leaves of the trees about the lake. Below the branches, a young girl shivered in the cool water.

"Brrrrr…. It's so cold!"

The elderly miko called out from the shore. "Don't be unreasonable. Come out of the water, child."

"No way! I'm covered in blood, dirt, and guts. I can't take it anymore!"

As if to prove her resolve the older woman, Kagome dunked her head under the frigid waters and went about scrubbing at her skin and scalp furiously. Without soap she would never feel truly clean, but this would have to do for now. Coming up for air, Kagome briefly let her hands travel over her side. The wound from where the Shikon no Tama had been torn from her side was already well on its way to healed, pink lines of new skin and some darker scabs the evidence of where the Sacred Jewel had resided for 15 years. Kagome wasn't sure if it would scar or not but pushed those thoughts away in favor of submerging herself once more.

" _I can't believe Kaede-baasan wants Inuyasha and me to work together,"_ Kagome thought to herself, feeling a strange mixture of confusion, excitement, and dread at the proposition. _"I don't have any idea how to fight, and he is so mean!"_

Inuyasha peered over the edge of a cliff situated near the lake. While it was true that he disliked the girl immensely, natural curiosity led him to watching her shadow as it moved under the water. The villagers had described this as a purification ceremony, but he neither smelled any ritual words nor heard the chanting of ancient prayers. In fact, the old hag seemed to be nothing of importance at all.

As quickly as her bathing began, Kagome pulled herself out of the water and toward the cloth Kaede had provided as a towel. Covering her chest protectively with one arm, she moved out of the water until it came right below her navel. It was at that moment that a flash of red caught the corner of her eye, and she turned around suddenly to see a black-faced Inuyasha staring down at her.

"Kyaaaaa!" the girl screamed. "Osuwari!"

Inuyasha suddenly found himself pulled to the earth below, landing behind an unsurprised Kaede.

"Ah, so you've come, have ye?"

Inuyasha groaned, peeling himself from off the ground. Once he got to a sitting position, he picked up the kotodama and stared at it with hate. "I forgot about this damn necklace," he grumbled mostly to himself.

Kagome, having used his time spent staring into the ground to quickly extract herself from the icy cold waters, called out from behind the bushes where she was currently changing. "I can't believe you'd spy on me, peeping Tom!"

"Keh, I don't know who or what this 'Tom' is, but I ain't interested in staring at someone who looks like a kid."

"What the heck is that supposed to mean!?"

Inuyasha half-worried that she was going to continue screeching in that high-pitched voice at him, but she seemed distracted by what she was doing in the bushes. Muttered threats came to him on the breeze, proving the girl was more interested in her current task than chewing him out.

Kaede took this intermission in their bickering to continue their conversation. "You came to try and steal this shard, didn't you?" As if to further punctuate his failure at being caught, she held the piece up in her worn hands, letting the sunlight glint off the surface.

"So you do get it, hag," Inuyasha said with fake admiration at her pointing out what should have been the obvious.

"I have an uneasy feeling about what the future holds, Inuyasha. If you do not combine your ability to fight with Kagome's ability to find the shards, I fear…"

"I get it, I get it. I already said I'd work with that useless girl in order to find the jewel shards, didn't I?"

Any response Kaede might have had was cut off by the reappearance of said "useless girl."

"Do you really hate me so much?"

Inuyasha's eyes slowly trailed over the figure of the woman before him. Clad in the traditional robes of a miko, the girl looked uncannily like the priestess from 50 years ago who she was supposedly reincarnated from.

 _Kikyo…_

Kagome stood before him a moment, possibly expecting an answer to her question. Her shoulder-length black hair was tied behind her in a loose ponytail much like the woman he once knew, but it was her piercing grey gaze that stopped Inuyasha in his tracks. He could clearly see the annoyance in her expression, combined with the tension and apprehension that had clung to her scent since the moment they had met. She may have resembled that woman, but her attitude and expressions were strangely foreign to him.

Seeming to give up on waiting for a reply, Kagome practically stomped over to where she had left her dirty uniform, taking it back to the waters edge to hopefully wash out the worst of the stains.

"What's with that face, Inuaysha," Kaede asked with a suspiciously knowing look.

Inuyasha was about to tell the old woman she could shove it, but he was distracted by the sounds of footsteps and labored breathing coming from behind him. A village woman dragging along a small child broke through the tree line, coming as close as she dared to the glaring Inuyasha before calling out of the priestess.

"Kaede-sama, my daughter… she suddenly collapsed."

Standing slowly and brushing off her robes, Kaede inserted the jewel shard into a small pouch and handed it to the younger woman. She then grabbed a her things and began to follow the villager toward her hut. Before she left the clearing, however, she shared some advice with the young ones left behind.

"Try not to fight."

Neither Inuyasha nor Kagome responded.

* * *

Kagome straightened her clothes on the drying rack, her task finally complete. She had aimed to keep her mind as busy as possible with the washing of the practically ruined garments, primarily because she was annoyed at Inuyasha but also because she hated how, when thinking about her current situation, her heart began to pound painfully in her chest. But as she finished her work, she could not help where her mind wandered. Her thoughts were interrupted by her unwilling companion.

"Oi."

"What?"

"Take those clothes off."

Kagome hesitated a moment, wondering if she had just heard what she thought she heard. A brief glance behind her confirmed her suspicions. The boy was glaring at her clothes pointedly.

 _Bang!_

Inuyasha groaned, glaring at Kagome and the rock she was currently wielding.

"You… bitch what the hell are you thinking!?" he ground out, a painful lump already forming on his head.

"Pervert!" she retorted, backing away from him with an expression that looked both angry and confused.

Inuyasha frowned. While he had tried to ignore her presence when she was washing those strange garments, it was impossible for his nose and ears to ignore the evidence before them. Every few minutes her breathing and heart rate would pick up only for her to shake her head and purposely slow her breath. Something was bothering this strange girl.

Once the worst of the pain had subsided, Inuyasha let his injured pride take the forefront. "I wasn't saying 'get naked,' stupid. Just change back into your own weird clothes."

Kagome rolled her eyes, thankful for the distraction he was providing, knowingly or not. She fixed him with a glare of her own and replied, "Because I look like Kikyo?"

It was more of a statement than a question, but Inuyasha was annoyed that he was so easy to read.

"That's got nothing to do with it."

 _He's like a little kid._

"Look, we can't work together if you're gonna be like that, Inuyasha."

"That's fine by me. I can collect the shards by myself."

"Ah, so it's ok if I'm not around," Kagome said thoughtfully. She briskly turned around and went back to where her clothes were hanging, quickly removing the still damp pieces and folding them up.

Inuyasha watched her, confusion evident on his features. Why the hell would she be taking them down already? It was only when she began storming away from him and the clearing that he was shaken from his stupor.

"Hey, wench! Where the hell do you think you're goin'?"

"I've decided to go home. Goodbye, Inuyasha," she said with an air of finality.

"'Going home?' Hey! Get back here!"

"Don't even try to stop me," she replied, keeping her eyes trained forward in what she thought was the direction of the well.

Inuyasha jumped in front of her, attempting to block her path. "But you still have the jewel shard. Give it to me first."

"Oh…" Kagome said, reaching in the robes and procuring the little bag which Kaede had given her. "You mean this?"

Inuyasha, not catching the sarcasm in her voice, came closer, hand outstretched greedily toward the jewel.

"Osuwari."

"Shit…"

 _Crash!_

"I'll be keeping this," Kagome said smugly, leaving Inuyasha alone and twitching on the ground.

"You…"

* * *

Kaede followed the woman down the dirt road until they came to the hut where her daughter lay.

"In here, Kaede-sama," the woman said, ushering the elderly miko past the screen that served as the door to her humble abode. Once the priestess had her eyes on the young girl, the mother continued, "She was fine this morning, but…"

Kaede nodded, "Let's see what we have here…"

She was about to remove her shoes and step all the way into the room when a subtle movement from the girl lying on the futon caught her attention.

"What…?"

Suddenly, the girl lurched up into a sitting position, arms dangling in front of her as though they were suspended from above.

Kaede pushed the girl's mother behind her and warned her to stay back. As she did so, the younger girl seemed to be pulled right out of bed, almost as though she was floating. For a moment, Kaede found herself at a loss for words or explanation. How could a human float like this?

A light from outside the hut caught something Kaede had not noticed before. Peering closely with her one good eye, she saw a few thin threads wrapped around the girl's hand and wrists. Looking more carefully, she saw that they were in fact not thread but human hair.

 _Hair? But how?_

More hair reached out and grabbed a butcher's knife from beside the fire pit. The knife was drawn into the hand of the floating girl, and Kaede took an apprehensive step back. The disoriented, unaware look in the girl's eyes made it clear she was under the control of some demon or spirit.

The girl continued her forward assault, raising the cleaver ominously above her head.

 _This cannot be a good omen…_

* * *

Kagome sighed in relief as the old well came into view, thankful for her good sense of direction. As she got closer, however, her steps became shorter and slower.

 _If I jump in, maybe I can return home…_

The well seemed so innocuous at this distance, but Kagome remembered clearly her fear and surprise upon being pulled in the first time by Mistress Centipede. Even though she had finally made it back, she was hesitant to try the well again. After all, if it didn't work, it would mean she was stuck here forever. The unknown possibility was more comforting than the possible confirmation that she could never go home.

Kagome squared her shoulders and chided herself for being such a coward. She purposely walked over to the well and looked into the depths below.

 _Bones…_

She felt a shiver make its way down her spine, her false courage giving up on her already. Kneeling by the side of the well, she closed her eyes and found herself recalling something Kaede-obaasan had mentioned earlier.

 _The dried up well is known as the Bone Eater's Well. The bodies of whatever demon has been killed are tossed in there and disappear after a few days._

" _So those were the bones of Mistress Centipede then. I don't wanna jump in there. It's too scary. What should I do?"_

Trying to distract herself from her thoughts, Kagome tried to focus on her breathing and the sounds of the forest around her. There were birds chirping nearby, a happy sound contrasting with the darker thoughts of the young girl.

The bird song was unexpectedly cut short, and Kagome looked up in time to see the bodies of the birds land in neat chunks on the ground near her. Kagome felt a cold sweat break out on her brow joining the shivers she felt before. She attempted to stand up and investigate but was prevented by something cutting into the skin of her arm and cheek. She hissed in pain.

Ignoring the sting, Kagome opened her eyes and was met with the sight of crisscrossed strands of hair strewn throughout the whole clearing. The confusion and shock she felt paralyzed her body, and Kagome found that she could only keep herself upright by leaning on the edge of the well for support.

Suddenly, a distinctly feminine voice called out to her.

"Oh? So you can see it?"

Kagome felt her eyes dragging up to meet a figure balancing gracefully on a single strand of hair above her. The woman wore an impossibly short and low cut black garment, something Kagome thought would have belonged in a modern-day dance club rather than feudal Japan.

 _Another demon?_

The strange woman continued. "This is my cage of hair, but simply being able to see it won't help you at all, I'm afraid."

The fake courage Kagome had somehow mustered before rose up within her again. "Who are you?" she asked, trying to sound more confident than she felt.

"I'm called Yura of the Hair," the being replied smoothly, fixing Kagome with a sultry smile. "But there's no reason for you to remember that. You'll be dead soon anyway!"

Yura raised her hand and the strands of hair woven through her fingers began to move according to her silent directions. Kagome was assaulted on all sides from the various strands of hair, some of them cutting into her skin others passing precariously close. She closed her eyes but opened them again only a moment later when she felt one of the strands remove the pouch with the Shikon shard from the fold of her robes and brought it into the waiting hands of the hair demon.

"So this is what happened to the jewel, hm? Oh, well. You can die now."

Yura pulled a sword from her hip and charged at the girl, swinging the sword in an arc above Kagome's head. In an attempt to dodge, Kagome leaned back over the edge of the well but lost her balance and tumbled backwards into the void. Yura flung her sword down into the well to finish the job but, upon coming to a standstill on the lip of the well, pursed her lips and looked down into the darkness.

"Eh? She's gone? How strange…"

* * *

 _I've decided to go home. Goodbye, Inuyasha._

The words replayed in Inuyasha's mind in a mocking falsetto. Who did she think she was? Stupid girl.

"Keh," he muttered to no one in particular. "Things are probably better without her around anyway."

Inuyasha bounded leisurely through the forest, heading back to Kaede's place, although he had no idea what that was going to accomplish. He didn't know where the stupid girl was going and frankly didn't care. But this did leave him without the ability to find the jewel shards he so desperately wanted. He supposed he could have tracked the girl by scent to whatever weird village she came from, but he wasn't in the mood now. Maybe he'd lull her into a false sense of security and bring her back sometime in the middle of the night. That would show her!

The half-demon's thoughts were interrupted by the appearance of women floating around the village, each carrying a sharp knife or farming tool. Now that he was focused on the world around him, Inuyasha could smell the metallic tang of human blood and some other strange scent he couldn't quite place.

The floating women seemed drawn towards him, and Inuyasha dodged their wild swings without issue, eventually finding openings to knock them out on the ground. He picked up a few of the women, muttering something about all women being crazy, when he noticed the glazed over looks in all their eyes. Something was wrong.

"Don't you dare harm them!"

The voice that called out to Inuyasha belonged to nonother than the old priestess who was crawling toward him with a serious-looking shoulder wound.

"Keh, like I'd waste my time on killing weak humans," Inuyasha spat out, annoyed. He walked over and squatted next to the old woman. "Ne, Kaede-baba, what are you up to? That's a lot of blood."

Kaede fought the urge to roll her eyes at his complete lack of concern. "Couldn't ye have at least worded that a little more nicely?"

Inuyasha's ears picked up the movement of the girls moving about in that strange, otherworldly way. He looked at the priestess for explanation, ignoring her previous question.

"Are they targeting me?" he asked, getting a little more serious.

"They are being controled by someone," Kaede replied, wincing in pain as she tried to sit upright. Looking around, she suddenly noticed the absence of the young woman. "Where is Kagome? You need to bring her here immediately."

Inuyasha was a little surprised at how frantic she sounded but shook it off in favor of standing and cracking his knuckles. "I'll just have to knock them out again, won't I?"

Kaede sighed shakily and glared at the hanyou. "That won't work, Inuyasha. We need Kagome."

 _If he doesn't work with her, he'll never discover the source._

"I don't need that stupid girl's help!" Inuyasha shouted, knocking another village woman out. It was only a temporary measure though. They would quickly recover and attack him again. Inuyasha dodged and punched, avoiding giving the women any serious or permanent injuries.

"Inuyasha!" Kaede called again. "You need to cut the hair that is controlling them!"

"I don't see no hair, granny!" But he swung wildly anyway, hoping to come into contact with the supposed strands.

From behind him, Kaede could see the looming figure of another village woman preparing to strike the distracted half-demon. She called out, but it was too late. Inuyasha was bound by strands she could barely make out and that he could not see at all.

The hanyou was worried for a moment, but quickly formulated a new plan.

"Even if I can't see the damn hair, I can certainly drag out whoever is controlling it!"

From somewhere in the forest, Yura laughed quietly to herself, lounging in the branches of a sturdy tree.

"Too bad for you, hald-breed. This hair just grows and grows." She made a complicated design with the strands of hair wrapped around her fingers and then pulled it tight, trapping Inuyasha against a thick tree in the middle of the village.

Yura smiled, pleased with her work. "Soon your neck will be mine."

Inuyasha struggled against the unseen bonds, growing more irritated by the moment. The strands, while unable to cut his thick skin, dug into the flesh. In particular, the strands around his neck made it difficult to breathe. Not willing to be squished to death or have his neck sliced clean off, the half-demon cursed and kicked into the tree behind him, causing enough structural damage that it collapsed. The hair cut into tree, but the slack was enough that he could escape for now. He returned to the old miko, who still lay bleeding on the ground.

"Ugh, I thought for sure I was a goner."

"Had ye been human that hair would have sliced your head clean off your body."

Inuyasha rubbed his neck uncomfortably. He was about to reply when sounds from behind him caused his ears to twitch. "Newcomers," he stated simply. "We're getting no where like this. Let's go, granny!"

The elderly priestess found herself on the back of the half-demon moving much more quickly than she would really like through the village and into the forest. Just as she was getting used to the lurching and blur of trees, she was suddenly set down at the foot of the God Tree.

Inuyasha addressed her directly. "You can see the hair, right? Tell me where it leads!"

"What you ask is impossible. In this condition and at my age… I simply do not have the power to see the hair well enough. You must hurry and find Kagome."

Inuyasha frowned, his eyes staring blankly into the distance for a moment.

 _So, she can see the hair?_

* * *

Kagome groaned and slowly pushed herself to a sitting position. She was at the bottom of the old well, although whether she was still in the past or in her own time was unclear. Above was darkness and below was death. She winced as she tried to remember that had happened.

 _That's right… that strange girl – demon? – was attacking me and I fell into the well._

Tentatively, Kagome reached out to place a hand on the wall, using the sturdy surface to steady herself and her wobbly legs. A pair of voices were coming near, barely audible from within the depths.

"But we've already checked the well multiple times."

"Kagome fell in. I saw it!"

"You must have been dreaming."

"It's true!"

Kagome, unable to believe what she was hearing, looked up expectantly. Above her, shining a bright flashlight in her face, were her grandfather and little brother. She called out their names, but they had already caught sight of her.

Her grandfather was the first to recover, commanding the younger boy to find a ladder; neither of them were strong enough to pull Kagome out. When she had climbed out of the well, she walked toward her home in a daze.

She took in the large wooden shrine, the colors of the trees, the little shop where her grandfather sold his amulets, and the well-worn paths that led from one structure to another, her brother and grandfather trailing behind her with confused expressions on their faces.

 _This scenery… I'm back in my time._

Her grandfather's voice brought her out of her thoughts.

"Kagome, it's been three days. We were worried sick about you, young lady."

"What's with the weird clothes, sis?" Souta asked, keeping his priorities straight.

 _This isn't a dream. I'm home._

The spell was broken. Kagome threw herself into her grandfather's familiar embrace and cried without reserve.

"Kagome, what are you…?"

"Grandpa, I was so scared!"

The elderly man patted her shoulder awkwardly, unused to such a fierce show of emotion from his granddaughter. When the sobs subsided, he pulled away slightly to rub the tears from Kagome's face.

"Let's go back to the house," he said, gently pushing the girl toward the family home. "Your mother will want to see you."

Kagome nodded mutely, having no energy left to argue.

* * *

Inuyasha was about to go back to the lake to search for Kagome's scent, when the old miko's ragged breathing caught his attention once more. He frowned, looking back at her injury. If he left her out like this, any weak demon could off the old biddy with little resistance. Mind made up. He started digging a hole at the foot of the Goshinboku and didn't stop until it was miko-sized.

Nodding at his handiwork, the half-demon gathered the elderly woman from the ground and placed her in the hole.

"It's the least I can do to bury you, Kaede-baba," he said with mock sincerity.

"I'm not dead yet," the miko pointed out.

"Exactly. You will be if you sit out here in the open. Just hide here until I get back. I'll help you out again if I don't forget," he replied, covering her in dirt and other debris to obscure the scent of her blood.

"You better not."

Task completed, Inuyasha bound away from the God Tree and started to make his way to where Kagome and he had separated earlier. His progress was halted when he caught a whiff of something coming to him on the breeze. Changing trajectory, he jumped another direction, following the scent of the girl he had only just met.

"Stupid girl," he mumbled to himself, "where the hell did you get to now?"

Entering into an open field, Inuyasha stopped to test the wind with his sensitive nose. Kagome's scent was heavier here; he was definitely closing in on her. Taking a few more steps forward into the clearing, another stench assaulted the half-demon's nose: the strange smell that permeated the village earlier. Now on the defensive, Inuyasha crouched and moved forward more carefully. He found himself running into what he could only assume were strands of hair. They broke easily against his skin. Clearly whoever was controlling them was not paying attention at the moment.

The girl's scent was strongest around the old well in the center of the field, but for the life of him Inuyasha could not see her anywhere or track her path farther than the well itself. A few drops of her blood were evident on the ground and lip of the well, and he could clearly see some thread from the red and white of the miko robes she was last wearing. By the side of the well, her own strange garments lay discarded.

Inuyasha looked into the darkness, testing the air for Kagome's scent. He was surprised when he found it.

The half-demon sighed and ran his claws through his long, silvery white mane. Either his nose was going haywire or the stupid girl had jumped down the well and was simply not visible from up here. Betting on the latter, he stood on the ledge of the well, looking down.

 _Here goes nothing._

He jumped in.

* * *

"Ah… this is true happiness."

Kagome settled into the bathtub after her long-overdue shower. The water was a little hotter than she normally liked, but she felt she had to make up for that awful cold dip in the pond earlier that day. Determined to make the most of her pampering, Kagome had spared no expense tonight: she had shaved, put on both a face and hair mask, and now she was letting the hot water soak her stress away.

But it was impossible to completely forget everything that had happened in the past three days, especially the last few hours.

Upon being united with and crying into her mother's shoulder, she had learned that not only could she not change out of her dirty and bloody clothes right away, she had to go to the local police station and explain why she had left and where she had gone. She had tried to explain what had happened to her family, but the incredulous looks were enough to convince her that if her own family didn't believe her, there was no way the police would.

The family had decided to tell the police that she had wandered into the forest and somehow bumped her head. Being knocked out for three whole days was pushing things a bit, but at least she had the hair and clothes to match that story.

Kagome sunk a little lower into the water, her nose hovering just about the water's surface. The ordeal was over it seemed, but why didn't she feel better?

Downstairs, her grandfather was holding court at the low dinner table.

Kagome's mother was the first to speak. "Grandfather, about Kagome's story…"

Kagome's grandfather only frowned into his quickly cooling tea, unsure how to respond to his daughter-in-law's unspoken question.

"It's true though!" piped up Souta, "I saw the ghost pull her into the well!"

Grandfather nodded, taking a thoughtful sip of his bitter drink.

Mama continued, "Well, it's not like Kagome to lie. But such a story…" She placed their empty tea cups on a tray and carried them back to the kitchen intent on beginning dinner. Kagome had requested her favorite: Oden. It was a bit too warm for the hot soup, but Mama would do anything for her little girl, especially when she seemed to have gone through quite the ordeal to get back home. Smiling to herself, she set about cutting the vegetables.

The elderly priest and caretaker of the Higurashi Shrine stood slowly, his back cracking as he shifted his weight from one leg to another. There was only one thing that could be done about this mess: the well would need to be sealed again, properly this time. He set about gathering the supplies he would need.

" _The legend of the Bone Eater's Well has been passed down for centuries. The body of whatever demon was killed would have been tossed in there only to disappear after a few days. But what if it is also a passage through time…!?"_ the old man let his thoughts wander freely as he removed some sacred ofuda and dried herbs from their shelves in the storage shed. _"This is the best I can do."_

Preparations complete, the patriarch of the Higurashi family faced the doors that led to the well house. Although he was not frightened of ghosts and spirits, raised from a young age with a healthy appreciation for the supernatural, he would be lying if he was a bit more cautious after hearing his granddaughter's tale.

Steeling his resolve, Grandfather pushed open the door and walked down the steps. He purposely did not look into the well, choosing instead to focus on the task at hand. He nailed some planks into place, attached multiple ofuda, lay down a sprig of leaves, and said a prayer over supposed portal. Pleased with his handiwork and confident nothing else would come out of the well and bother them, the old man returned to his home with peace of mind.

He entered the dining area once more, this time finding his granddaughter drying her hair. He got another cup of tea from the kitchen and settled in beside her.

"I've sealed the passage."

"…sealed?" the girl replied, focusing the hairdryer on the damp ends of her hair. She would have brushed off this type of conversation before, but after seeing what she had seen…

"Yes, using some powerful ofuda I've been saving. It has created a barrier around the well. You don't need to worry about anything now. That well will never be opened again." Grandfather took a sip of his tea, secretly pleased that Kagome seemed impressed.

The girl finished with her hair, returning the hairdryer and her towel to the bathroom. She was trying very hard not to think about what she had been through in the past, but somewhere in the pit of her stomach she had a weird feeling. Realizing that there was still a little time before dinner, Kagome decided to take a walk to clear her thoughts. Her treacherous feet, however, took her back to the well house.

Sliding open the door like her grandfather had done less than an hour ago, Kagome walked down the steps slowly to stand before the well itself.

 _Somehow it all feels like a bad dream, but I wonder if everyone over there is ok…_

Kagome shook her head and exited the eerie building, sliding the door behind her. Maybe she would take a nap? She entered her room and lay on the bed, but sleep would not find her. Her thoughts stayed firmly centered on what she was sure was the past.

 _I can't believe I was in the past… in Sengoku Jidai! It seems so unreal… And that Yura of the Hair… she was after the jewel too, of course. Inuyasha will be pissed when he finds out I've lost it…_

Thinking of the irate half-demon for the first time since returning and recounting her tale, Kagome found herself suddenly becoming very annoyed.

 _So, he thinks he can collect the shards by himself, does he? Fine by me. He doesn't need me, and I definitely don't need him. Hmph!_

She sat up and knelt on her bed, clapping her hands purposely in front of her.

"Alright," she said to herself, "I'm going to make myself forget everything, because it's all in the past now."

"Kagome?" her mother's voice called from downstairs, "Dinner is ready!"

"Coming!"

* * *

Inuyasha found himself in complete darkness, the glow of the afternoon sky completely absent from above him. He knew the well was not that deep; he had seen the bones at the bottom before jumping in. But that strange sensation as he fell… He knew that he had fallen for far longer than he should have. And now he was in pitch darkness, an unsettling feeling for someone who was used to being able to see at least the outlines of shapes around him.

" _Her scent is thick here,"_ he thought to himself. _"She must be nearby."_

Unsure what to expect but not willing to just sit around waiting, the hanyou sprung up, only to crash through some boards. Landing outside the well, Inuyasha frowned at the remaining wood and strips of paper covering the well. What idiot had put them there? Brushing off the wood shavings and other bits of paper, Inuyasha ignored the voice in the back of his mind that wondered why he was standing in a building rather than in the middle of an open field.

"Okay, now to find that stupid girl," he muttered, annoyance growing by the second.

Her scent was fresher outside the well, and he followed it out of the building, practically knocking the sliding doors off their track in the process. When he looked outside, however, he paused a moment.

 _This… is different._

Before him clearly lay a shrine. A well-established one by the looks of the building before him. Walking around it cautiously in the growing twilight, Inuyasha was struck by a strange feeling. He was definitely not in the same place as before.

It did not look the same, it did not sound the same, and it certainly did not smell the same.

 _The hell…?_

Focusing on the one scent he did recognize, Inuyasha followed it behind the shrine and to another two-story building. Opening the door before him carefully, he slipped inside. The scent initially carried him towards a set of stairs, but the familiar voice of the girl pulled him toward a pair of sliding doors.

 _Stupid girl, did you think you would get away so easily._

* * *

Kagome happily floated downstairs, the familiar scent of her beloved Oden wafting up to her nose and making her mouth water. She entered the dining area and plopped down on one of the cushions, grabbing a bowl and a pair of chopsticks.

"Hey grandpa," Souta began, "about the well… it's not gonna open again, right?"

"Of course not," the old man replied. "I sealed it after all. No demon could every get through it. You and Kagome should have a little more faith in your grandfather's abilities…"

Both men looked over at the girl in question. She was staring longingly into the pot simmering on the portable stove, clearly not paying attention to their conversation and mumbling "oden" over and over again in an almost monk-like chant.

Her mother brought over a ladle and knelt at the table, pouring broth into each family members' bowls before working on her own. Kagome, however, was unable to resist starting first even if it was bad manners. She lifted a piece of meat, blowing on it gently.

"Itadakima-"

Suddenly the sliding door behind her was flung open with great force, revealing an extremely irritated half-demon.

The family stared blankly at the strange-looking boy who had interrupted their meal. Kagome, still lost in her Oden-induced haze, did not really comprehend the gravity of the situation.

"Oh, Inuyasha? What are you doing here?"

She put the food in her mouth and chewed thoughtfully.

Inuyasha wasn't sure he could be any angrier, but her nonchalance seemed to bring out the best in him.

"Damn you, girl. Who said you could leave?"

Looking down one the girl before him, he could see the realization start to come over her, face paling slightly with the realization of who was standing before her.

"Wait, what? How did you even get here?"

Inuyasha fought the urge to roll his eyes. "The well, obviously."

She looked like she wanted to argue, but the next voice to be raised was not hers but an older man next to her.

"That's impossible. The seals I used on the well have been passed down for generations. They are powerful enough to prevent a demon from getting through them."

"You mean this?" Inuyasha replied, peeling a recently discovered piece of paper from his hair and tossing it carelessly on the table. "The power must have worn off with time. Those things didn't work at all."

Inuyasha found himself growing tired of the conversation and roughly grabbed Kagome's arm; he would drag her kicking and screaming if necessary.

"Hey, wait! I don't wanna go!" she protested angrily.

"I don't care what _you_ want. You're coming with me and that's final."

"Now wait just a moment!" a new voice joined the conversation.

"Mama…"

"What the…?"

Inuyasha turned and found himself face to face with a pretty middle-aged woman almost as tall as him. Her expression was unreadable, but her scent identified her as Kagome's mother. He took a step back, unsure what the woman would do. He flinched when she reached her arms out toward him, but his sudden fear quickly became irritation when he realized she was only rubbing his ears.

"Are these real?" she wondered out loud. From somewhere below him, he vaguely heard a child's voice crying for a turn.

"Mother," Kagome began, "now really isn't the time…" Kagome could tell Inuyasha was uncomfortable with the attention and wanted to get him away from her family before he did something stupid. Before she could drag her feudal friend from the room, however, she noticed something on his sleeve.

"Inuaysha," she said softly, getting his attention, "those strands of hair…"

"Huh?" he replied intelligently, finally escaping from the hands of Kagome's mother. He looked to where Kagome's eyes were trained but saw nothing. "What hair?"

"You can't see it?" Kagome asked, clearly confused. She picked up the strands, but they quickly tightened around her hand, drawing blood. She winced.

 _They are still being controlled!_

Inuyasha wrinkled his nose at the sudden scent of her fresh blood. Her movement had drawn the attention of the rest of her family too. Her mother rushed over with a towel, trying to stop the trickle of blood.

"Kagome, dear? What happened?"

 _I'm the only one who can see the hair? No way!_

Concern growing by the second, Kagome raced out of the room to the surprise of her family and the half-demon. Those remaining in the dining room looked at each other a moment longer before following the girl out of the house.

 _It can't be…_

Running across the yard and through the open doors of the well house, Kagome felt her stomach drop at what she saw. Coming out of the well was a mass of hair, swaying back and forth like it was being blown in the wind. But there was no wind that night. Kagome swallowed the lump in her throat as Inuyasha appeared behind her.

"The hair is after you…" she said, annoyance and fear apparent in her voice in equal measure.

Inuyasha, ignoring her comment, leaned against the inside of the well house wall. "I guess the old biddy was right. You can see the hair well enough."

"You brought this evil here!? To my family!?"

Inuyasha was a little surprised by the vehemence in her voice but made no comment. From behind him he could hear the approach of the rest of the family. Kagome, who had been facing the doors, could clearly see them too.

"No, stay out of this. You can't come in here!"

She slammed the doors closed and leaned against them, contemplating what to do next.

 _I have to stop this somehow…_

Without warning, the hair shot out toward the half-demon beside her.

"Inuyasha," she called out," In front of you!"

He sprung out of the way and brought his claws down on empty air. "Here?" He asked, swinging again.

Kagome tried to call out where the hair was coming from, but everything was moving too fast. Suddenly, a mass of strands appeared behind Inuyasha, wrapping around his arms and legs and effectively halting his attacks.

As Inuyasha fought and cursed the invisible strands of hair, Kagome could hear her family pounding on the door to the well house begging to be let in.

 _Even if he is able to cut some pieces, more and more hair appears. We have to end this quickly…_

Following the path of the hair with her eyes, Kagome saw something suspicious. She moved closer to the edge of the well to confirm her suspicions.

"Inuyasha! Look! Cut this one!" she shouted, pointing above her.

"You know damn well I can't see any of this shit!" he replied, clawing wildly in the general area she had indicated.

The hair moved out of his way and redoubled its efforts to incapacitate the hanyou.

" _He'll never be able to cut it if he can't see it,"_ Kagome thought to herself. _"I guess this can't be helped."_

Inuyasha watched as the girl ran around the edge of the well and grasped something in the palm of her hand. To his surprise, she drew her hand down the length of what must have been the hair, leaving a trail of coppery blood on the sharp strand.

Wasting no time, Inuyasha leapt toward the girl and sliced the controlling strand. To their relief, the attack died down.

Kagome could see the limp pieces where they lay on the ground. She frowned.

 _If Yura had only wanted the shard she would not be trying to attack us now. There must be something else._

"Inuyasha," Kagome said, getting the half-demon's attention. "Let's go back."

Inuyasha stared at the girl as she walked down the stairs and turned to look at him expectantly. There was a surprising fire in her eyes. He had thought she would protest going back, but here she was practically begging him to come with her. This girl really was strange.

"You're a strange one wantin' to go back all of a sudden."

"I don't really want to…" the girl admitted quietly.

 _But if I stay here my family will be in danger…_

Her thoughts were interrupted by a soft piece of cloth being draped over her head and shoulders.

"Hm?"

Inuyasha looked away, suddenly embarrassed. "It's made from the fur of a fire rat. It's stronger than most armors."

"Oh, thank you," Kagome replied, running her fingers over the strange, soft fabric. Could it really be stronger than armor? Then again, his clothes hadn't been cut by the hair…

Inuyasha continued, trying to cover up his uncharacteristic show of concern for this strange girl. "You'll need it more than be 'cause your skin is so weak."

A sweat drop formed on Kagome's brow. "Isn't it more like you're unnaturally think skinned?"

Ignoring the girl's comment, Inuyasha hesitantly wrapped his arm around her back and helped her step up to the edge of the well. They both stared down a moment, not sure what would happen on the other side.

"Let's go," Inuyasha finally said, jumping into the darkness with a firm hold on his new companion.

* * *

Somewhere on the other side of the well, Yura of the Hair sat in her lair, combing the strands of her favorite skull.

"They'll be here soon," she cooed to the old bones, "so we'll have to give them a warm welcome, won't we?"


End file.
